Every time I go on a long ride that day and the day afterwards I can't stop eating. Mostly fancy the sweetest and fattiest stuff in the cupboard. I suppose my body is trying to replace some of the 3000 calories the heart rate monitor says I have used up but any suggestions to stop the general pig out as I seem to have no will power.

Ginsters. Lots of it.

Big meal asap after finishing your ride. Then smaller meal or bowl of cereal a couple of hours before bed.

Do you eat when you're riding? Torq bars or similar or flapjack etc are pretty good at keeping you going and reducing the hunger pangs later on. A recovery drink might help as well.

I get a similar thing after big rides, helps to eat the healthiest but still tasty things – like a good curry perhaps.

Try a bowl of porridge. Chuck a handful of raisins in as it's simmering and add a bit of honey. Nice and bulky and bugger all fat.

Another thing to try; when you get back, drink a pint ot two of water or water with Ribena or lemon barley water. The fluid will make you feel a bit full.

Basically, there's nowt wrong with stuffing your face after a long ride, but try to stuff it with healthier things. Have a look on the BBC food website, for example. I've tried to have a pot of chilli or something similar on the stove for when I get back, so I can put some rice on, go for a shower and have a nice big bowl of lovely nosh. Thai veg curry is nice (and pretty cheap too) – squash, sweet potato, low fat cocount milk, red peppers and red thai curry paste. Chuck a bit of chicken in as well and you've got something really tasty that's not too lardy.

I bought into the advertising- a bottle of chocolate 'for goodness shakes' pretty much fills me up, and I can kid myself I've done myself some good. 😳
Like wonny j says though, I reckon steady consumption en route is the key to avoiding the unhealthy blowout.

I usually have a pint of milk, some yougart, porridge, cereal, nuts, dried fruit, toast all work well for me.

When you say a 'long ride', how far are we talking here?

Gota try me some of that yougart.

Porridge before, Banana during. Ride is 4 hours trying to keep the heart above 150/140 the whole way (Trying) all the ride is pretty technical rooty and rocky so there ain't much fire road.

You want a mix of carbs and proteins and fairly quickly after the ride ends.

Wow I made a spelling error, are you the spelling police TheSwede – excellent contribution to the thread. You must have a dull life.

Wholewheat pasta, with an egg broken over it plus whatever veg you can lay your paws on.

I find after a decent ride i want something savoury, anyone else find this..?
Is it because during riding i usually take, a banana, jam sandwhiches and jelly babies, all of which are sweet/sugary..?

Post ride (at home) i like tuna salad cream (maybe some red onion mixed in) in pitta breads..
My mate sometimes brings morrisons steak pasties to eat in the van after riding, top drawer!
All washed down with a couple of cups a tea of course…

😀

Eat half a Soreen Malt Loaf (sliced with a smear of marge, natch) before you ride and then the other half in the first half of the ride and you'll probably feel a lot less hungry afterwards.

Soreen with a little marge has – according to a mag test years ago – a pretty much optimum glycemic index. If you don't want to eat while you're riding, just have the second half as soon as you finish… or the whole thing for breakfast before you go.

Porridge is also very good GI wise, just don't mess it up with simple sugars.

Gary m, step out side sir and bring your yougart.

For me, a milkshake almost as soon as I get in. This helps to keep you going whilst you shower, make yourself human again, etc. until the REAL hunger kicks in. Then you want something with a good mix of carbs, protein and other nutrients (vitamins etc). I know it's a bit boring, but a big bowl of pasta with meat (or maybe a poached egg on top) is good. Don't be afraid to eat a decent amount of carbs, just don't go crazy on fat, as it's not really what your body is after.

Just a big, fairly healthy meal will do the trick really.

Plus for a 4hr ride you will need to be taking in some carbohydrate and electrolytes during your ride, unless you have a very odd metabolism indeed. An easy way to do this is to eat something.

I swear its the only reason I go cycling now, so I can come back and have that.

helps to eat the healthiest but still tasty things – like a good curry perhaps.

Genius. At what point did eating something made with ghee become "healthy"?

For me, immediately post ride is 50g whey protein mixed with 500ml orange juice and water. Then eat normally thereafter.

ForGoodnessShakes.

Porridge is also very good GI wise, just don't mess it up with simple sugars.

DoctorRad, does honey count as simple sugars? I put a bunch of raisins in mine, and sometimes banana, but tend to chuck in honey as well…

Getting a bit out of my depth now (knowledge a bit rusty) but since honey contains glucose and fructose, its sugar content is pretty 'simple'.

Reading some Wikipedia on fructose digestion it says that "The absorption capacity for fructose in monosaccharide form ranges from less than 5g to 50g and adapts with changes in dietary fructose intake. Studies show the greatest absorption rate occurs when glucose and fructose are administered in equal quantities". Further up, you find a table which shows that the fructose / glucose ratio in honey is 50/44. This would seem to indicate to me that honey is therefore approximately equivalent to table sugar, i.e. the sugar content will be absorbed into your system pretty quickly.

That said, some simple sugars on your porridge may not be such a bad thing, as there's a lot of more complex carbs in there as well to give you longer-term energy.

I am not a nutritionist, and one may be just around the corner to confirm or contradict my conclusions 😀

All i have is a bowl of porridge before the start of the ride and flapjacks during the ride and this stop the 'binge eat' at the end of the ride.

Honey has a GI that is lower than sugar – a quick google suggests a value of 55 which is actually not that much more than porridge at approx. 40-50. Feel free to research it more thoroughly yourself though!

FWIW I used to use honey instead of sugar in porridge etc. for above reasons.

ourmaninthenorth – Member
helps to eat the healthiest but still tasty things – like a good curry perhaps.
Genius. At what point did eating something made with ghee become "healthy"?

For me, immediately post ride is 50g whey protein mixed with 500ml orange juice and water. Then eat normally thereafter.

Racist!

Seriously, you obviously havent made many curries. I use olive oil in mine.

Besides, a good curry combines lots of rice for carbs, some meat for protein, lots of veg for the 5 a day, and lots of spices to keep the immune system in good shape.

Sounds a lot tastier than whey protein mixed with orange juice! Idiot! 😀

Potato wedges (not the frozen rubbish) and beer.